Lockheed Martin, Finmeccanica – through its UK company SELEX Systems Integration - and Cobham have signed an agreement to form Fusion Air Traffic Management, which will address Project MARSHALL - formerly known as the Joint Military Air Traffic Services (JMATS) programme.

The three team members have unparalleled track records in large-scale service delivery, programme management, systems integration and long-term support for Air Traffic Services. Together, the Fusion team offers a proven capability to deliver the optimum approach, solution and underlying values to fulfil the programme effectively.

MARSHALL is a major Air Traffic Services project for the Ministry of Defence (MOD). It will provide long-term air traffic management capability for the safe operation of all the MOD’s main bases, airfields and air weapon ranges in the UK and overseas, including those used for deployed operations. MARSHALL will also deliver significant savings to the MOD over the 22-year lifetime of the programme through improved efficiencies, economies of scale and innovation.

Lockheed Martin UK Chief Executive Stephen Ball said: “The team name Fusion was chosen to reflect the very best of each of the three organisations for the benefit of the MOD. We believe that together we are best placed to understand the technical complexities and commercial challenges of the programme and then reliably deliver safe and innovative solutions that will add real value.”

SELEX Systems Integration Chief Executive Michael Clayforth-Carr added: “All three companies have significant current military and civil air traffic control business in the UK and around the world. We fully understand the technological requirements and the attendant service delivery challenge and are all operating successfully within the MOD’s current contractual environment.”

Cobham UK Managing Director of Aviation Services Des Taylor commented: “Fusion has been carefully constructed to ensure that, whilst all team members understand the challenges of the programme as a whole, each company also brings a particular expertise which allows it to take the lead in its particular field. For more than 25 years, Cobham has provided the MOD with a wide range of managed services and Cobham – through Fusion – will provide Project MARSHALL with leadership in the support solution and field service delivery.”

Notes to Editors

About MARSHALL (formerly known as JMATS)

Project MARSHALL is the key Air Traffic Management programme for the Ministry of Defence (MOD) as it will provide the capability to support UK military flying and air deployed operations for the long term. These Air Traffic Services will provide air traffic control and air traffic management for all of the MoD’s aerodromes and air weapon ranges both in the UK and overseas including those used for current deployed operations. It will also ensure that obsolescence is removed from the current system and that the MOD complies with the legal requirements of managing an air traffic service and enable the safe operation of its aerial platforms. Project MARSHALL will be a “managed service” which will deliver savings over the lifetime of the programme through improved efficiencies, scale and innovation. MARSHALL will enable the MOD to continue to conduct flying operations, contributing to the protection of UK sovereign airspace including support to counter terrorism.

About Lockheed Martin

Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin is a global security company that employs about 126,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The Corporation's 2010 sales from continuing operations were $45.8 billion.

Lockheed Martin UK, part of Lockheed Martin Corporation, is a leader in systems integration working on major programmes spanning the aerospace, defence and civil sectors. The organisation works with more than 100 business partners and employs over 1600 people at sites across the UK.

In Air Traffic Management where it has unparalleled expertise in programme management and service delivery, Lockheed Martin is recognized worldwide for adding to the safety and security of today's transportation systems. Sixty percent of the world's commercial air traffic is monitored and controlled by Lockheed Martin air traffic control systems. Lockheed Martin provides the experience, technology and services to bring the most modern and efficient operations to our air traffic customers, in the UK and around the world. We offer unrivalled global depth and breadth in developing, upgrading and maintaining air traffic management systems. Our systems and services offer flexible routing, collaborative decision-making, conflict resolution tools, and accurate and timely surveillance information, all of which leads to safer skies.

With its experience in delivering critical national infrastructure programmes to civil and military customers, Lockheed Martin will be the contract holder for MARSHALL and will provide leadership in systems design and programme management.

About SELEX Systems Integration

SELEX Systems Integration, the UK subsidiary of SELEX Sistemi Integrati Spa, Italy, is a part of world-leading technology company Finmeccanica, operating globally in the aerospace, and defence and security markets. With an international workforce of over 75,000 people and revenues in excess of €18 billion, Finmeccanica is one of the foremost suppliers of helicopters, aircraft, aeronautics and defence systems, as well as a European leader in space, security, resilience, transportation and power generation solutions. With over 10,000 employees in the UK, based at 10 major sites across the country, Finmeccanica is currently the UK MOD’s second largest defence equipment supplier.

In the field of Air Traffic Management (ATM), SELEX Systems Integration and SELEX Sistemi Integrati Spa represent a 60-year heritage in the application of the full range of ATM technologies to both military and civil domains. Its customer base extends to over 150 countries with capability covering the domains of Communication, Navigation, and Surveillance; all of which is backed by an extensive system integration expertise. In the UK, SELEX Systems Integration currently provides Post Design Services (PDS), including design authority, asset and documentation management, engineering support and training for the UK MOD’s fleet of over 40 Operational Watchman Radars. The company is also supplying the latest generation surveillance solutions for Airports across the breadth of the British Isles.

The financial investment of Finmeccanica allows the company to play a leading role in the development of innovative solutions to ensure the safe, fast and efficient flow of air traffic, the security of people and goods, and the highly effective exchange of information between operators.

With its UK and global track record in the application of the full range of ATM technologies to military and civil domains, SELEX Systems Integration will provide MARSHALL with leadership in technology procurement and aerodrome systems integration.

About Cobham

Cobham's products and services have been at the heart of sophisticated military and civil systems for more than 75 years, keeping people safe, improving communications, and enhancing the capability of land, sea, air and space platforms. Today, the Company, which is based in Dorset, operates as three divisions employing more than 12,000 people on five continents, with customers and partners in over 100 countries and annual revenue of some £1.9 / $3 billion.

Cobham's Aviation Services Strategic Business Unit operates more than 150 fixed and rotary wing aircraft globally. It delivers the largest civil maritime aerial surveillance service in the world. It trains all of the UK's military helicopter pilots. It provides NATO and the UK military with critical air environment operational readiness training. It delivers essential airfield flight inspection services to, and has air traffic management systems at, 120 military and civilian sites worldwide.

Having reviewed these contracts in depth, the MOD highlighted that Cobham provided a "consistently open and frank approach to the management of contracts and the achievement of outputs." It also described two of its long term service contracts as "exemplars" of how output based contracts should operate.